(This post is the 37th of what will be approximately 70 posts following 820th anniversary highlights of what history now calls the “Third Crusade.” My novel, The Swords of Faith, tells the story of this legendary clash between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.)

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Saladin made a quick march to the port city that could serve to create a stranglehold on the Mediterranean coast if Richard could take possession of it. This position could enable Richard to threatenEgypt. Saladin told his chronicler he would rather lose all his children than take a stone from the walls. But he did not have the resources to garrison bothJerusalemand the ket city ofAscalon. A tough decision had to be made. 820 years ago, Saladin made that decision. Ascalon would be dismantled and abandoned. The inhabitants would be relocated. The work was completed quickly; within two weeks the position had been reduced to rubble. Saladin might have believed that this took Ascalon out of the conflict. But over the coming year, the position would grow into major significance, to the point of determining whether peace was at hand, or whether hostilities would continue.